Crescendo at the Street Theatre

There’s nothing like a dinner out and some good theatre to cap off the work week.

Avenue Q at ANU Arts Centre

Yes this is a fridge magnet

I met the news from a post at the Riot Act that Avenue Q was being performed again in Canberra with a curious double bill of excitement and scepticism.   Having been thrilled by a performance at London’s West End in 2009 (much like other reviewers at the Riot Act, oddly!) and listening to the soundtrack for literally weeks afterwards, I desperately wanted to see it again – but was unsure just how well the much smaller and local Repertory Society (or Supa Productions? I’m not sure who actually ran this thing – another fault!) would be able to pull it off. I decided to give it a chance after seeing some rave reviews.

Advertisement

Improvention 2011

Despite two-and-a-bit and three-and-a-bit years of living in Canberra respectively, neither T2 nor I had been to the Street Theatre, so what better reason than to attend Improvention? Improvention is a week-long festival showcasing improvised theatre: from what I understand, during the day there are conferences and workshops for improvisers (hailing across the globe) to attend, while at night the public gets to see performances for a rather reasonable fee.  Improvised theatre is simply performance where most everything is made up on the spot with a bit of stimulus or a framework to work in—think Thank God You’re Here or Whose Line Is It Anyway?